Which to use
“baptême” and “baptêmes” are a confusable French pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.
- #8,202
- “baptême” frequency rank
- #32,296
- “baptêmes” frequency rank
- 40498
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | baptême | baptêmes |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Immersion rituelle par laquelle on est initié à la vie spirituelle. | Pluriel de baptême. |
Same sound, different letters: baptême vs baptêmes
Muted letters are shared; highlighted letters are the only spelling cue when pronunciation matches. Shared run: 7 letters. baptême runs 7 letters (CVCCVCV) against baptêmes's 8 (CVCCVCVC) - the length gap alone is often enough to separate them once you know to check it.
Same sound, different spelling - baptême / baptêmes
This is the hard kind. baptême and baptêmes are pronounced identically (\ba.tɛm\) and both work as anoun. Neither the ear nor the grammar will rescue you; only the meaning does, so the glosses below are the whole decision. They differ by 1 extra letter(s) - “baptême” sits inside “baptêmes”. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40498, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
baptême is recorded at frequency rank #8,202, classified as anoun, pronounced \ba.tɛm\. baptêmes is at rank #32,296, tagged as anoun, pronounced \ba.tɛm\.
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 40498, this pair ranks #240,037 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of baptême vs baptêmes
Shared letters: abemptê. Private to "baptême": -. Private to "baptêmes": s.
"baptême" · 7 letters · shape CVCCVCV · "baptêmes" · 8 letters · shape CVCCVCVC
Frequently Asked Questions
Can "baptême" and "baptêmes" be used interchangeably?
Which is more common, "baptême" or "baptêmes"?
What to do next
"baptême" and "baptêmes" share a sound, keep the gloss open, then jump to the headword or a nearby trap.
- Full dictionary entry for "baptême" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
- Full dictionary entry for "baptêmes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
- This pair ranks #240,037 of 440,172 scored French confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
- "baptême" and "baptêmes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "baptêmes vs barèmes". Nearby pair
Confusion rank #240,037 of 440,172 scored French pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.